Barbara Rankin's Studio: A place to come where you can get lost in your own creativity, before returning to reality!

Thursday, April 18, 2013

Button Fairy Tutorial with Sin City Stamps

Hello Sin City Stamps fans, and welcome back to our blog. Before we begin, I want to tell you about a fun blog hop coming up. The Sin City Stamps design team is cooking up some neat things to share with you in the upcoming "Think Like a Pirate" blog hop on 8 June. So mark your calendars for lots of fun and inspiration. Aaaarrrrrgh me matey!

Today, I am going to show you how to make a button fairy. I have to admit, I got this idea because I am participating in an online button fairy swap, and I have to say, Sin City Stamps has some fabulous images for button fairies. Check out their latest stamp plates in their online store. They are to die for.

If you are not familiar with button fairies, then you are in for a real treat. Below is my finished button fairy. I really love how this turned out. I think I may have to make some more.

3. Add various colors of pigment ink to the script butterfly stamp. I used dauber duos, but you could also use a make up sponge or cat's eyes to apply your ink. As you can see in the photo, I followed the outline of the image to apply my colors.

4. Stamp image onto aqua card stock. Some of the pictures look aqua, and some do not. It really is aqua card stock, though.

5. Add detail clear embossing powder. I used detail powder so that my script image would appear more distinctly.

6. As you can see from the photo below, the color is now much more intense after clear embossing.

7. Cut out butterfly. (Tip: To make it easier to cut into the corners, I take a snip out of each corner. This helps me get my scissor blade in without bending the card stock.)

Cut wings in half.

8. Cut out mannequin image; adhere wings to back of mannequin using wet glue. I find that wet glue adheres better when glueing regular paper to a heat embossed paper.

9. Cut approximately 16" piece of 20 gauge wire, use pliers to make loop at top. This will be used to hang your button fairy. (Note: If you do not have pliers, you can always use a pencil or paint brush handle to make your loop.)

10. I like to thread my buttons onto my wire before I actually glue the wire to the back of my button fairy. So, first, I mark the wire where my buttons will start. Be sure to use a permanent marker, like a Sharpie pen, to make this mark so it will not rub off of the metal wire.

11. Lay your buttons out in the order you desire.

Thread buttons of varying size and interest to the bottom of the wire. Make a tiny loop of wire on the back of the last button to keep it from falling off. Again, if you do not have pliers, you can use a wood skewer or dowel, or something like that to make your small loop.

12. Adhere wire to back of mannequin with three glue dots.

13. To finish the back, I simply stamped the same mannequin image to the reverse side of a scrap of print paper, cut out, and adhered to reverse side. This covers up where you attached the wire to the back.

Isn't this a fun project? Imagine adding some feathers, charms, beads, and any other embellishments you can think of. I hope you have been inspired to gather all of those buttons you have been collecting and make a playful button fairy to grace your studio. I must warn you, however, they can be very addicting. So have fun and make button fairies!

Thanks so much for stopping by today, and please be sure to visit the Sin City Stamps online store to see all of the new stamp plates and accessories they have to offer.